Hawaii flights have offered passengers a unique opportunity to unwind and unplug for years. Basic Wi-Fi is still missing from most Hawaii flights due to current satellite limitations.
However, a recent technological shift may redefine that peaceful time spent crossing the Pacific. Following Hawaiian Airlines’ lead in adopting Starlink Wi-Fi, Qatar Airways has announced that it will now allow video calls mid-flight using the same satellite technology.
This raises a broader question: Will video calling become a standard feature on flights to Hawaii? If so, how might it change your in-flight experience?
Some travelers, however, continue to view this time as sacred, a way to ease into the relaxed Aloha spirit before setting foot on the islands. Yet, with Starlink’s high-speed internet and now the potential for video calling, these peaceful moments may soon be punctuated by the intrusive sounds of virtual meetings or calls.
The latest in-flight Innovation or travelers’ worst nightmare?
Qatar Airways announced the successful launch of its first Starlink-equipped Boeing 777 while becoming the first international airline to allow passengers to make video calls during flights. This new offering promises passengers the ability to connect through platforms like Zoom or other video chat apps, even at 35,000 feet. While this level of connectivity is a groundbreaking leap in technology, it will also spawn highly mixed reactions from passengers and airlines alike.
Hawaiian Airlines, the first adopter of airline Starlink, has equipped its entire A330 and A321neo aircraft with the same high-speed internet. Beat of Hawaii editors recently flew on a Starlink-equipped Hawaiian flight to the South Pacific and reported on the extraordinary quality of the connectivity.
Yet, in a conscious decision to preserve the calm and quiet atmosphere that many travelers associate with flying to the islands, Hawaiian has yet to permit voice and video calls on its flights.
United Airlines is also about to begin rolling out Starlink on its near-1,000-plane fleet, leading to the question: Will they all now follow Qatar’s example rather than trying to match Hawaiian’s more tranquil approach?
Related: How Hawaiian Airlines Starlink Revolutionized the Entire Airline Industry
A dramatic shift in Hawaii flight experience for the good or bad.
One Beat of Hawaii reader, Leah from San Diego, previously voiced concerns: “I look forward to disconnecting on my Hawaii flights. I can already imagine the person next to me having a loud Zoom call. This is the last place we need that kind of distraction.”
Others echo this sentiment, wary of losing the unique charm of Hawaii-bound flights. On the other hand, some travelers see the benefits of Wi-Fi and perhaps even video calling. Another BOH commenter, Paul, said, “As someone who flies to Hawaii frequently and yet still has to work, I welcome the chance to use the time to stay connected.”
Related: Will United Follow Hawaiian on Starlink In-Flight Wi-Fi?
Balancing productivity with Aloha.
There’s no denying that video call mid-flight offers a game-changing option for some travelers, including younger, more connected ones. With more people working remotely and traveling for leisure and work, the demand for seamless connectivity is constantly growing. Yet, for Hawaii-bound travelers, airlines must carefully consider balancing the latest advancements and providing the essence of the island experience.
Some suggest a middle-ground approach, allowing video calls but enforcing etiquette rules or restrictions. For instance, airlines might mandate headphones for all calls or designate quiet (think “no smoking”) zones on flights.
Hawaiian Airlines, the only US carrier currently with this Starlink capacity, will be fascinating to watch. Now owned by technology-forward Alaska Airlines, will they soon jump back into the lead here by allowing voice and video calls or simply continue to offer blazing-fast Wi-Fi for other activities? It will be interesting to see this cultural shift unfold.
Related: Hawaii Travelers Just Got Upgraded: Blazing Free Wi-Fi on Major Airlines
What’s next for Hawaii-bound flights?
With Qatar, United, and other airlines lining up behind Hawaiian and already adopting Starlink’s next-generation connectivity, it’s only a matter of time before more carriers decide to permit video calling on Hawaii flights. Will airlines follow Qatar Airways in allowing full voice and video services or opt for more restrained offerings, and what will airline peer pressure dictate?
Reader Mark from Los Angeles previously summarized it: “There’s a time and place for video calls—I’m just not sure it’s on the way to Hawaii. I hope airlines realize that people come to Hawaii to relax, not to stay glued to their screens.”
What’s your take on the latest technology in the skies?
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Time on the flight would be better spent on how to behave once you reach the Islands. Start with some hawaiian music, beautiful scenes of each island, the history of hawaii, etc. So often visitors come, and don’t have any idea of our customs and culture. This would be a perfect use of time to prepare them.
The Only way this makes sense is if there was a phone booth type ar we where the sounds of calls are isolated from everyone else. If not, this will be heinous.
Of all the dumb things the airlines could do, this tops the list. Put your phone away on a flight. I have found over my 40+ years of flying, the world will be fine without me having to make a call on my flight. Once I landed, I caught up on calls. If this does happen, I think airlines should have a few security personnel on each flight because they will need them to handle “phone rage”. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
The idea of noise is nightmarish. Many tend to speak louder when using devices, which could be useful in a medical emergency. However, who would appreciate sitting next to a stranger’s video call? Silence is golden.
Richard C. Nice idea but noise cancelling headphones don’t treat nearby human voices as noise and cancel them. You’ll need a pair of studio (over the ear) headphones or the protection you’d use when running a crack hammer or marshaling in an airplane on the ramp.
Captain Ron from the cockpit welcoming you aboard Hawaiian’s HA 50 direct to Maui. We’re looking at a 5 hour 50 minute flight time with no turbulence reported.
As a note this is a Starlink equipped aircraft for a small fee you can enjoy video chatting through out this flight by using your Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines credit card.
For those that don’t wish to video chat or not to be part of everyone’s conversation our fine crew will be coming down the isle with noise cancelling head phones to either rent or purchase with your new Alaska/Hawaiian Airlines credit card.
Richard C,
I’m not sure if your post is advocating for the passengers who don’t want to be held hostage on an airplane and forced to listen to the barrage of others’ conversations to have to wear noise-cancelling headphones…..or, is your comment to point out that it is yet another way for the airlines to make money off selling or renting the headphones to the “victims”? Just wondering…. People have survived, and businesses have managed not to go under, with passengers not making phone calls on planes for decades. No need to start this kind of torture for adjacent travelers and/or flight crew now. What person can’t occupy their mind with something non-audible for 5 hours?
To be honest, it has absolutely nothing to do with the destination, and everything to do with basic manners and norms of acceptable behavior.
Joining a Zoom call from your private pod in business class is one thing. It’s entirely inappropriate to do the same when wedged shoulder to shoulder in the middle of a crowded economy class cabin.
You said it on the title: Nightmare!!! And the hits just keep on comin’ trying to go to our special Hawaii.
Maybe on your next Hawaii flight the flight attendant while serving you a beverage will ask? With your beverage would you like aspirin or ibuprophen? Tylenol,Advil,or Bayer? Might cure the headache but not the earache. Good luck if it a red eye flight.
Who’s network adapter card in who’s cellphone or tablet is going to catch fire first. 6+ hours of streaming and the heat from constant lithium battery drainage has to be a concern. Not to mention all the wi-fi radio frequency emitted by 240-275 passengers cell phones alone trapped in a airplane sealed airplane. Please offer a brain cancer test after a passenger leaves the airplane. All these network antenna’s connected to an outside external antennae must be a great recipe for a lightning bolt to be attracted to the plane. People don’t want to pay attention to the buckle your seat belt warnings let alone have to be distracted in the disruption of some airline attendant while on the video conference call or movie. IMO just a big airline liability.
Hi Don.
I don’t disagree with your main point. Turning this capability loose in a plane full of people with nothing to do for 5 hrs is an invitation to big problems. But the they will be behavioral, not technical. No lightning strikes or brain cancer. Some will understand that their devices won’t perform to their expectations and upgrade ASAP. Breaking up the fist fights will become the flight attendants’ primary issue. Hope one of them is a 6’4”, 275# gentleman and another one has a lot of zip ties. This too will pass. Just like every other change we’ve been through.
JA
The center of disease control has published that cellphone RF radiation is a probable carcinogen. Video conferencing might be an airlines responsibility if it leads to passenger aggressiveness and out of control behavior. I don’t need to hear anybody’s business matters anyhow and I would think it would violate one’s workplace confendiallity policy.
Don. Starlink based calls in-flight will be using WIFI, not the normal cellular radio. It will be VOIP. Just like streaming video over your personal WIFI network at home. Very safe.
Highest bandwidth speed of wi-fi is 2gig per second. Hi definition video or streaming takes roughly 20mb bandwidth speed to not buffer. 275 passengers x 20mb equals 5500mb of bandwidth or 5.5 gigabytes to service everyone. Not to mention the Wi-Fi signal service is combined 2.4 ghz and 5ghz in the total available bandwidth. Seems like the person with the fastest processor and the fastest network card will probably run multiple applications at once and suck a majority of the bandwidth. Sorry everyone else can just buffer or not connect.
Don, I’m not sure where you got these numbers but they are all incorrect. Mostly off by 10:1. Get a speed checker program and you’ll see. There will be plenty of bandwidth until we get to 4 or 8k video on handheld devices. The systems will limit the resulttion depending on that.
Boorish loud individuals who feel the need to impress everyone (trapped) around them with their personal importance.
Grandparents, who are already loud when not in an airplane, loudly call the grandkids: “Grandpa’s in an airplane!”
And, oh so much more!!!
Dear God, No!!
Absolutely NOT! People are already inconsiderate enough on flights. This will make it much worse. I will avoid airlines that offer this, if I am able.
This is an awful idea! Its stupid, and a big no way! Agree completely with so many others who are sick and tired of having to endure all the nonsensical needless chatter, and idiots without manners yaking away about nothing!
I already see this behavior in restaurants where people are watching videos or on group calls. Some people are unaware that other people like the enjoyment of reading a book or watching a show ( with headphones).
Please, No! It’s already annoying to listen to people who talk nonstop while on their flight. It’s sad that the polite people have to wear earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones in order to have a peaceful flight. Put the video callers in a special cabin with a noise cancelling wall to separate them from the others, and charge them more $$ just like first class or business class. Or require that they use sign language. 😉 Thanks Rob and Jeff for bringing us all the airline news even if it is over the top crazy.
OMG, H*ll No! It’s bad enough we have to tolerate rude people making speaker-phone calls everywhere else (medical waiting rooms, airport terminal waiting areas, restaurant, public transportation, etc); now we are going to be subjected to it on a plane where there is absolutely no escape from it? You can’t get up and move to another seat, because there are no open seats as the majority of flights are completely full. You can’t walk around until the inconsiderate video caller is finished with their call, because they have made the aisles so thin you can’t pass by others and it’s unsafe due to turbulence. This is a Horrible idea. Sadly, in this day and age, many people have no manners and are oblivious to the fact that not everyone wants to hear their very “exciting” conversations with others. Since so many have no clue, airlines need to safeguard our sanity by not providing idiots the ability to make other’s lives more miserable.
100:1 that any airline that starts to allow this will be literally encouraging fights. Someone will be loud and obnoxious, irritating the rest of the cabin and it will escalate rapidly, mark my words.
So, I’m all for Wi-Fi no for video/chat calls. If you can text, you’re already in great shape. If anything, someone can build and “AI” voice representative where you type and it talks in your voice. Problem solved.
Lastly, it’s already super irritating when flight crew walk by someone with their phone on speakerphone having a full on conversation or watching a saved video as it is. If I see and hear them – then you should to! Shut them down, please.
I hope they follow Hawaiian Airlines lead. Having WiFi is fine, but a long play salesman next to me is a nightmare I’d rather not have.
I will start whistling….or shuffling a deck of cards, which has happened to me before to Hawaii…incomprehensible that people would do that.
I have enjoyed the new wi-fi offered on Hawaiian. I also am in full support of their policy of no video chat calls through the flight. It’s a fine balance I commend HAL policy of providing this great upgrade while protecting customers right to a peaceful and relaxing flight.
What a nightmare this will turn into! When I fly, I like the peace and quiet of the cabin area, to read, nap, or just look out the window. Remember how the airlines used to tout the “relaxed” experience of flying? Now I’m looking at being stuck in the middle seat on a long flight, with ‘Francine’ on one side, swapping recipes and ‘hilarious’ gossip with her neighbor back home, and ‘George’ on the other, getting some fast and furious, uproarious exchanges with his bud about last week’s home football team performance. Just shoot me!
As for the business types, give it a rest! Flying is not an extension of your work office. Believe it or not, you are not specifically entitled to continue to conduct business just because you don’t know how to relax and leave if alone for a few hours.
Do we really need another reason for “air rage”? This is sheer idiocy,
Perhaps it’s an opportunity if the airline chooses to do so. I’m not sure if the equipment installed would allow it but if it can by set to block VOIP, all phone calls would be blocked. Text, email, streaming and web browsing wouldn’t be affected. Doing this would be a competitive advantage for the airline. They could even remove it below 10,000 ft so people could coordinate ground transportation etc.
No video calls or phone calls in flight. The airphones were self regulating due to cost but this is a slippery slope.
Maybe the rear of the plane is a calling section like we had smoking sections? Both are equally inconsiderate of others when in a confined space on an airplane.
In a word, “No”! It cannot be left up to the Public, all have done fine for 30-40 years, all you’ll here, is “We’re on our way to Maui or whatever, yak-yak-yak.” If Texting, maybe, that’s on them, but the rest of the Flight doesn’t have to share!
No, no, no.
Quite a few people have no filter when it comes to phone conversations. I don’t want to hear it. I was on a train in Italy today and the guy next to me was creaming at someone into his phone. Same thing at home in the US- grocery stores, restaurants, Bathrooms, etc. just no.